God disciplines those whom He loves. Trials and temptations are inevitable. But we also suffer from that which is imposed as suffering from the outside. We suffer as a result of our own sin, but we also suffer the opposition of a sinful world. Jesus suffered because of our sin in order to save us. He was shamed on the cross; He was humiliated and tortured because of our sin; He bore the wrath of God due us for our sin. So now, on the one hand, sin and God's correction of us is done in love and, on the other hand, His preserving grace sustains us against the hostility of the world against us. In order to bear up under these things, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We need to remember what He endured and we need to struggle against our sin and we need to be willing to identify with Jesus while the world rejects Him. We need to join with Him in His reproach. The great temptation is to view the reproach of Christ, the rejection of His Lordship, and the rejection of His gracious salvation, as some things to be avoided. We may feel the rejection of the world suggests some sort of invalidation of our faith. The only way to resist this overwhelming sense of repudiation is to keep the sufferings of Christ in view. Consider Him. |
